Quick Summary: Easy British jam tarts made with ready-made pie pastry and your favorite jam. Roll the dough thin, cut rounds, fill, and bake 15 minutes; kids can do most of it. Match the jam colors to the holiday. Prep: 10 min | Cook: 15 min | Cool: 15 min | Makes: 12 tarts
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These jam tarts are the easiest holiday dessert I make. Two ingredients: store-bought pie dough and quality jam. Ten minutes to assemble, fifteen to bake.
Kids can make them, which makes them perfect for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any holiday where you want homemade without the fuss. The only catch: use good jam. I use preserves from my own farm kitchen when I have them, but any quality jam works.
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What Pastry Dough Works Best for Jam Tarts?
Jam tarts are a classic British dessert. Traditionally the dough is a “shortcrust dough”, which is quite easy to make. Pie crust is the closest thing to the British shortcrust in the US.
Because I wanted to make this kid-friendly and super simple, I opted for ready-made or store bought pastry dough.
I tried it with store-bought “puff” pastry dough and found that too delicate for the jams. The best option is a refrigerated pie dough. The goal was to find a ready-made dough as close to shortcrust as possible.
The winner was a refrigerated pie crust dough from Pillsbury.
If you prefer to make your own shortcrust dough, it is actually pretty simple. Here is the best DIY recipe I have found for shortcrust dough for jam tarts.
Can You Use Puff Pastry or Filo?
You can, but I don’t recommend it. When I tried puff pastry, it puffed up around the jam and browned too fast for the filling. If puff pastry is what you have, cut it into squares, chill them, prick the centers with a fork, and use a little less jam.
Filo is too thin on its own; you’d need to layer 3 or 4 buttered sheets in a mini muffin tin. I haven’t tested either method, so treat them as starting points.
The only modification I made to the ready-made pastry dough for these tarts was to roll it out thinner than it came in the package.
The packaged roll was for a pie, and these tarts only have a tablespoon or so of jam in them, so you don’t want the jam overwhelmed by a thick dough. (my mom asked me how I got the crust so delicate 🙂
Can You Make Jam Tarts with Frozen Tart Shells?
Yes, and it’s even easier than rolling out pre-made pie crust. Fill the shells straight from the freezer with about a tablespoon of jam each, no more than three-quarters full, and set them on a baking sheet. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 18 minutes, until the pastry is golden, and let them cool at least 15 minutes before eating, since the jam gets very hot.
What Jam Should You Use?
Use your favorite jams. Because I was originally making these mini tarts for Easter, I chose a range of marmalades with their citrus colors. For Valentine’s Day I used a range of red jams (raspberry, strawberry and cherry).
For Christmas, they all work well…I love currant jellies, but there are many red, fruit flavored jams that are pretty for Christmas.
Just make sure to use some quality jam for these if you want to make them special.
If you make your own, my guide to preserving summer fruit and vegetables covers jams and other ways to put up the harvest.
What Else Can You Fill Jam Tarts With?
Of course there are other fillings that are popular to use in the “jam” tarts, although jams are the simplest filling. Here are a few other ideas:
- lemon curds
- nutella
- fresh fruit
- savory ingredients that you might use in a meat pot pie
- ready-made cherry pie filling
- sweet potato pie filling
- pecan pie filling
How to Make Jam Tarts with Ready-Made Pastry.
The full instructions are in the recipe card below. In short: roll store-bought pie dough thinner than it comes, cut rounds slightly larger than your tart molds, press into molds, fill 3/4 full with jam, add optional dough cutouts, egg wash the edges, and bake at 375°F for 15 minutes until golden.
More Recipes Made with Jam
- Easy 10-minute Raspberry Trifle
- Cheese and Jam Pairings for Charcuterie Boards
- Jam-filled, Chocolate Dipped Cookies
- How to Use Jams in Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Cocktails
- Low Carb Crustless Apricot Frangipane Tart
- A low carb dessert that is awesome is this no-bake low-carb lemon-orange pie with a nut crust.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Refrigerated pie crust (like Pillsbury). It’s closest to traditional shortcrust pastry. Puff pastry is too delicate and burns easily. Phyllo is too thin and crisp.
Fill only 3/4 full. The jam expands when heated. If using runny jam, use slightly less.
Don’t overwork it. Let the dough rest in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling. Chill the filled tart pan before baking if shrinkage is a problem.
Any quality jam or preserve. Match colors to holidays: red (raspberry, strawberry, cherry) for Valentine’s and Christmas, citrus marmalades for Easter, dark berries for fall.
Yes. Lemon curd, Nutella, fresh fruit, or pie fillings all work. Jam is simplest.
2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. They soften over time, so best eaten within a day or two.
Shortcrust pastry, a simple butter and flour dough. In the US, refrigerated pie crust is the closest ready-made version.
They’re small open pastry tarts filled with jam, a teatime classic in Britain since at least the 1840s. Strawberry, raspberry, apricot, and blackcurrant are the traditional jams, and a plate of mixed colors is the classic look.
They’re a treat, at about 108 calories each, mostly from the pastry and jam. They aren’t low carb or slow carb. For a lower carb dessert, try my crustless apricot frangipane tart, and if you’re on the slow carb diet, save jam tarts for cheat day. Here’s my slow carb food list.
In addition to these British-style tarts, I have a few other recipes inspired by the Brits. Try this Ploughman’s lunch for some no-cook pub food, or this Full English Breakfast for a high-protein, filling breakfast.
Jam tarts also belong on a tiered tea stand. See my casual afternoon tea at home for the rest of the spread.
Easy Jam Tarts with Ready-Made Pastry
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ package refrigerated pie crust 1 of the 2 crusts in a box
- 12 Tbsp assorted jams
- 1 egg for the egg wash on the dough (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Remove one of the pie crust rolls from the box unroll onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll the pie dough out to be thinner. Perhaps an additional inch or two in diameter.1/2 package refrigerated pie crust
- Use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the individual molds in the tart pan and press down firmly as many times as necessary to fill your tart pan. Use the small cookie cutters to cut out small shapes to place on top of jam.
- Use a thin stainless steel spatula to lift the round dough pieces into the tart molds. Press gently into each mold, shaping it to your desired shape.
- Add about 1 Tbsp of jam to each shaped tart and spread evenly. The amount of jam to dough will vary based on your molds. The goal is enough jam that the tart doesn’t taste too doughy, but not so much that it bubbles over. 3/4 of the way to the top of the mold is a good estimate. If using small shapes, press them lightly into the jam at this time.12 Tbsp assorted jams
- Whisk the egg and use a basting brush to spread the egg wash around the rim of the dough and onto the center shapes. This is to add the golden color, not for taste. You can also just use the egg white, or the egg yolk with a bit of water. Each egg wash gives a slightly different browning color.1 egg
- Bake for 15 minutes, checking to see if jam is bubbling over. Remove when dough is golden brown. It may take 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven and how thin you rolled out the dough. Cool thoroughly, the jam gets very hot!
Video
Notes
- I use Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust.
- Frozen tart shells work too: fill them from frozen and bake 15 to 18 minutes.
- Jam tarts keep 2 to 3 days in an airtight container.
I make these every year for the holidays. Brings a little bit of my English mom to the table. No leftovers, they are so good!
Yes, and so easy to do up fancy with kids by just changing the shapes or the jam flavor. The English do like their crumpets don’t they lol.
I love this picture! So much fun.